Illuminated vehicle interior assembly such as a safety belt buckle assembly

• US 10,259,387 B1
• Filed: 10/16/2017
• Issued: 04/16/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: JVIS-USA LLC
• Original Assignee: JVIS-USA LLC
• Inventors: Schneider, Ingo E., Arundale, Richard L., Jiddou, Remon S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Raleigh, Donald L
• Application Number:
  US15/784,413
• Publication Number:
  US 20190111836A1
• Time in Patent Office: 547 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/242 Safety belts; Body harnesses
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/53 Modular mounting systems, e.g. using tracks, rails or multiple plugs
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/64 for a single lighting device
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/82 Switches specially adapted for vehicle interior lighting, e.g. switching by tilting the lens
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/85 for manual control of the light, e.g. of colour, orientation or intensity
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 33/12 Homopolymers or copolymers of methyl methacrylate
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 69/00 Compositions of polycarbonates; Compositions of derivatives of polycarbonates
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 1/041 Lenses
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 1/045 Light guides
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0046 Tapered light guide, e.g. wedge-shaped light guide
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0055 Reflecting element, sheet or layer
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0091 of the light source relative to the light guide G02B6/0021 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0093 Means for protecting the light guide

Abstract

An illuminable vehicle interior assembly such as safety belt buckle assembly is provided. An illumination module includes a substrate, a light source supported on the substrate to emit incoherent visible light rays through a light emitting surface of the light source and a driver supported on the substrate to controllably supply electrical power to the light source based on a command signal from a remote electronic control unit over a vehicle bus. A lens is molded in a molding process to have a light transmissive output surface and a light transmissive input surface aligned with the light source. The lens gathers and receives the light rays at the input surface and redirects gathered light rays to the output surface to generate light in a pattern of substantially uniform intensity into a passenger compartment of a vehicle.

Claims

1. An illuminable safety belt buckle assembly comprising:

a safety belt buckle cover having an opening for receiving a tongue, the opening extending between inner and outer surfaces of the cover, the outer surface facing a passenger compartment of a vehicle;

an illumination module mounted to the inner surface of the cover and including a substrate, a light source supported on the substrate to emit incoherent visible light rays, and a driver supported on the substrate to controllably supply electrical power to the light source based on a command signal from a remote electronic control unit over a vehicle bus; and

a waveguide lens having a light transmissive input surface oriented to receive the visible light rays emitted by the light source and route the visible light rays to a light transmissive output surface oriented substantially orthogonally to the input surface, the waveguide lens gathering and receiving the light rays at the input surface and redirecting them by internal reflection to the output surface to illuminate the area proximate the outer surface.

2. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the waveguide lens comprises an integral body injection molded from a transparent optical-grade plastic.

3. The assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the waveguide lens body is molded from an optical-grade plastic which cause the light rays to emerge diffusively from the output surface.

4. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the waveguide lens body has a coating of optically opaque material on its exterior exclusive of the input surface and the output surface.

5. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a protective layer overlying and protecting the driver and the substrate proximate the light source from external moisture or foreign substances.

6. The assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the protective layer is an overmolding encapsulating the driver and the substrate, that does not cover the light source.

7. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, further wherein the light source is a side-emitting light emitting diode.

8. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an opaque skin injection molded onto exterior surfaces of the waveguide lens body, other than the input and output surfaces.

9. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the waveguide lens includes a first layer injection molded from a transparent optical grade plastic in the molding process and a second layer bonded to the first layer and formed from an opaque material molded onto the first layer in the molding process.

10. The assembly as claimed in claim 9, wherein the molding process comprises a multi-shot injection molding process.

11. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises a printed circuit board (PCB) and wherein the light source includes a light emitting diode (LED) disposed on the PCB and connectable with the control unit via the driver.

12. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the output surface is a class A surface.

13. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the module is snap-fittable-into engagement with the cover at the inner surface of the cover.